Chapter 48: Spirit Rice Price Cut

Inside the alchemy chamber.

Su Yuqing stared blankly at the alchemy furnace, where six azure elixirs rolled and churned, on the verge of emerging—and what puzzled him even more was.

Among those six Qi Condensation Pills, one bore a thin layer of elixir aura on its surface.

“Premium Qi Condensation Pill?!”

Before Qin Ming could move, Su Yuqing raised his hand himself.

The six elixirs in the furnace instantly flew into his palm.

He examined each pill meticulously, frowning, verifying again and again.

“Brother Su, could you take a look? Are these Qi Condensation Pills still acceptable?”

“Is there anything I should pay attention to?”

Qin Ming, thrilled by his successful alchemy, wore a sincere smile and humbly sought Su Yuqing’s advice.

After all, the man was a genuine top-grade alchemist.

Across the entire Qingyang Market, such individuals were exceedingly rare—if he offered even a few words of guidance, Qin Ming would benefit immensely.

Long silence.

Finally, Su Yuqing returned the pills to Qin Ming.

Then, forcing a faint smile onto his face, he muttered a few words: “Heh… it’s… passable.”

On the surface, he appeared calm, but inside, his mind was in turmoil.

“Does this kid’s alchemy talent nearly rival mine?!”

“Wasn’t he failing constantly just a while ago?”

“How on earth did he suddenly get it?”

“Could he have truly mastered my secret alchemy technique?”

“Is his comprehension ability truly this high?”

“No, no—I’ll have to hide my methods next time.”

Qin Ming happily admired his “masterpiece,” a deep sense of accomplishment rising within him.

He also felt immense gratitude toward Su Yuqing.

Had it not been for Su Yuqing, who always let him observe every alchemy session, he would never have absorbed so much real knowledge through osmosis.

Even with his spiritual sense greatly strengthened, he could never have reached the threshold of a low-grade alchemist so quickly.

Dinner.

Qin Ming personally cooked a full table of dishes using Beast Tooth Rice, and he and Su Yuqing ate heartily.

“Brother Qin, your Beast Tooth Rice is truly excellent.”

Su Yuqing devoured two large bowls of Beast Tooth Spirit Rice, still scooping more from the pot as he spoke.

“If Brother Su needs some, I can sell you a portion at market price,” Qin Ming said with a smile.

The last time he bought Gathering Spirit Pills from Su Yuqing, the man had given him premium-grade ones.

This would be a good way to repay the favor.

Upon hearing this, Su Yuqing immediately perked up, eyes gleaming: “Really?!”

“Brother Qin, how much can you supply? I’ll take all of it.”

Qin Ming immediately pulled a sack of Beast Tooth Rice from his storage pouch and placed it before Su Yuqing: “I only have this much now—about a hundred jin.”

“I’ll sell it to you at seven spirit stones per jin.”

Su Yuqing’s face lit up with joy; without even looking, he waved his hand and the sack vanished into his storage pouch.

Then he handed Qin Ming seven hundred spirit stones.

Qin Ming took the stones and stored them away—his small treasury now swelled to over sixteen hundred spirit stones.

He raised his cup to Su Yuqing and exclaimed cheerfully: “Come, let’s drink our fill tonight!”

Su Yuqing, rarely smiling so broadly, raised his cup and drained it in one gulp.

…

After dinner, Qin Ming took his leave.

During the meal.

Su Yuqing asked Qin Ming to cultivate his final year’s spiritual plants.

Again, cultivation of alchemy auxiliaries.

But this time, the spiritual plants Su Yuqing requested were of considerable difficulty.

One was a first-rank top-grade plant: “Demon Flame Grass.”

The other was a first-rank supreme-grade plant: “Seven-Leaf Huang Ling.”

Both had a maturation period of exactly one year.

Despite Qin Ming’s hesitation, Su Yuqing’s repeated pleas wore him down.

Su Yuqing now had more confidence in Qin Ming’s plant cultivation than in himself.

Qin Ming also realized he still needed to keep benefiting from Su Yuqing’s alchemy techniques and inherit his alchemy chamber, so he quickly nodded in agreement.

One condition for advancing to top-grade spiritual cultivator is successfully cultivating two or more first-rank top-grade plants. Su Yuqing had given him only twenty seeds of each plant.

At the top-grade level, even the seeds had become exceedingly rare.

Qin Ming walked to the hillside’s spirit fields.

He tilled the soil and planted the dozens of seeds separately.

He cast the Advanced Spirit Rain Technique, summoning spirit rain.

Then he turned to the three mu of Beast Tooth Rice fields.

This year’s Beast Tooth Rice was thriving, promising a bountiful harvest.

Only then did he leave, satisfied.

Qingyang Market.

Qin Ming returned to his “Cool Cottage.”

He glanced at the corner of the courtyard—the withered Blood Poison Vine he had transplanted.

Qin Ming had observed it for a long time.

Without using the “Accelerate Growth” term, this plant grew extremely slowly; since transplanting, it had shown virtually no change.

His spiritual sea’s Accelerate Growth term was nearly depleted—he could only leave it as is for now.

Just as Qin Ming was about to enter his meditation chamber, his message talisman stirred.

“Brother Qin, come quickly—we have new developments.”

Qin Ming picked up the talisman, frowned—it was from Shopkeeper Liao.

‘What now?’

He had a bad feeling.

After a stick of incense.

Qin Ming arrived at Juxuan Pavilion.

Shopkeeper Liao greeted him with a smile and led him to a private room on the fourth floor.

He then activated a soundproofing talisman and spoke gravely: “Brother Qin, I have bad news.”

“The market’s spirit rice will be lowered in price.”

“Likely within the next two days. Moreover, all other cultivation resources—magic weapons, elixirs—will follow suit in gradual price cuts.”

Qin Ming frowned, instinctively asking: “Has Lingyu Sect repaired their teleportation array?”

“You guessed correctly,” Liao replied, nodding slightly. “A few days ago, Lingyu Sect completed repairs to the teleportation array and restored logistical support.”

“Moreover, Lingyu Sect and Jinyun Valley will install two direct teleportation arrays to the newly constructed Yunze Immortal City.”

“In the future, both sects will center their operations around Yunze Immortal City. Qingyang Market’s status will be gradually replaced.”

“The Pavilion Master’s intention is that once Yunze Immortal City is complete, Juxuan Pavilion’s main operations will relocate entirely there.”

“Only minor branch stores will remain in Qingyang Market.”

Hearing this, Qin Ming frowned in thought.

Long silence.

He lifted his teacup, sipped slowly, then asked: “Will housing rents in the market drop too?”

Liao seemed to have anticipated the question and replied bluntly: “No, housing rents won’t drop.”

“Alas, with so many free cultivators now, housing is in high demand. When Yunze Immortal City is finished, only a select group of cultivators will be granted entry—it has certain thresholds.”

Qin Ming was stunned.

He hadn’t expected spirit rice prices to drop while rents stayed sky-high.

He’d only moved in a few days ago… “Brother Qin, if you still have surplus spirit rice, sell it quickly while you can,” Liao said, refilling Qin Ming’s cup, his tone implying more than words.

His face wore a pleasant smile.

Qin Ming couldn’t help but sneer inwardly: ‘This old fox—he’s been eyeing my spirit rice all along.’

“Ah, if you’d told me sooner, I did still have about a hundred jin of Beast Tooth Rice.”

“But I just sold it all to Brother Su,” Qin Ming sighed, shaking his head.

Liao’s hopeful gaze instantly turned to disappointment.

“Oh well, never mind—Beast Tooth Rice will mature next year anyway!”

Conversation ended.

Shopkeeper Liao still warmly saw Qin Ming out of the shop.

Outside the shop.

Qin Ming pondered for a moment.

He immediately sent a message talisman to Cai Laojiu.

“Laojiu, if you still have stored spirit rice, sell it quickly these next two days—keep this to yourself.”

(End of chapter)